Can The Devils Play Panthers Hockey? (SOTFA EP303)

Can the New Jersey Devils play Florida Panthers style hockey?

By Sam Woo and Nick Villano

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of the Fan
Address presented by Pucks and Pitchforks dot com. I'm your host,
Sam wu here with the editor in chief of that
fine website, Nigmalin. I'm streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube Live,

(00:28):
x live and Twitch on the Let's Go Devil's Network,
talking about Devil's hockey, maybe talking about kind of Devils play.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Panthers hockey. Ram, I wonder.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
You want to just jump right in.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, let's cut the music, let's get to it, because
I'm I'm pumped up. I know that our fans are
pumped up in the YouTube live Hello everybody, and the
Facebook Live an X. I do we even this has
been a long this has been a subject for about
a year maybe two years now, and I think we

(01:14):
we get a nice sample size of the Florida Panthers
what it can do. So why don't you jump right
into it?

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Nick first?

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Before I get into it. Do you do you think
that the Panthers are winning the same way the Lightning one.
I'm just curious.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
No, So.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
I think we're just we we we have run into
the rare back to back dynasty type situation. I don't
It's kind of like, didn't we run into this with
the Oilers and the Islanders. Isn't isn't wasn't that. Didn't
the Oilers dynasty run right into the Islanders dynasty or

(01:59):
the other way around. The Islanders dynasty were right into
the Oilers dynasty. Correct, So we're kind of dealing with
a similar situation where.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
A team finds just it's just this magical connection of
players that fit so perfectly together.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
And that's what that Islanders team was. And then when
the Oilers came over from the Wha, you know, they
had Gratzky obviously, but they got Messia. I forget how
they got mess was on a different WHA team, but
maybe Cleveland or Cincinnati or I think it was on Cincinnati.
I can't remember for sure. But Messia the Oilers, you

(02:39):
had this magic connection to the greatest of all time.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
And.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
You know the same thing like the Islanders had had
Bossi and Trotier and a couple like again, you just
get these a few of the greatest of all time.
And you would think that would be the argument for
the Oilers, right, because they get Tricytle and McDavid together
along with Bouchard, right, they got incredibly lucky because they

(03:07):
signed Bouchard to the deal that they did when they
accidentally overpaid Darnell Nurse. And you know, they basically even
out if you literally flipped their contracts. Everybody would be
happy if you were paying Bouchard nine million, and I
think Bouchard makes like six million out if you've paid
Nurse six million, I think everybody would be fine with that.

(03:29):
But it's actually the Panthers who just have this magical connection.
And it happened after the Kachuck trid. Right, Bill Zito
is a masterful GM. He saw exactly what he needed.
I think Kachuck kind of forced this way there. I
think he only gave the Flames so many options. I

(03:49):
do know that the Devil's really tried, and our GM
is Matthew Kachuck's cousin, and Kachuck still said no, he
didn't want to come here, So you know, I would
imagine every team was in Uncle Chuck. But the Panthers
made the move to get him, and he was like

(04:12):
the piece, right. But the moves that they were making
before then is what set the set the stage for this,
and it's where the Devils can emulate Florida. I want

(04:34):
the Devils m There's one issue with this, this what
I'm about to say, because I think the Panthers had leeway,
like Zito had a little gravitas to make some mistakes
if he needed to. He could take some chances on
some guys. And I'm afraid that Tom Fitzgeril doesn't feel

(04:55):
like he has that, and he probably doesn't. He's probably
on the hot seat this offseason if he doesn't make
the right moves. But I want the Devils to take
a look at players who were taken in the top
ten who haven't hit that ceiling. I'm not talking about
like overall busts, but I'm talking about guys who maybe

(05:19):
aren't exactly like you don't have to spend the cost
that it takes to get a top ten pick, And
I'm looking, I'm trying to look at these these these
trades that they made. So obviously i'm talking about Sam
Bennett and Sam Rynhart are the two. So for Sam
Ryan Hart, they traded Devon Levy and a twenty twenty

(05:40):
two first round pick. But it's not nothing. Ironically, they
traded for Sam Bennett just three months earlier, and for
for Sam Bennett. They traded Emil Heineman and a twenty
twenty two second round pick. Obviously it's a much smaller price.

(06:03):
But they saw two players who were in Buffalo. One
was in Buffalo, what one was a Calgary. They weren't
hitting their ceiling, right they they were they were in
the NHL, but they weren't hitting their ceiling. And at
this point, so it was what four years ago that
they were like in twenty four to twenty five, somewhere

(06:24):
in that range. And they brought them in. And this
is before the twenty one twenty two season. And is
that is that the President's Trophy season? No? The next
one was a president No, No, that was the President's Trophy.
So they were very important pieces. And and they made

(06:45):
like bold moves like they gave up Anton Strawman for free,
basically actually paid a second round pick to get re
straw Men. They what else did they do that offseason?
I'm just looking at some of the trades they made.
They they traded away Frank Fatronto at the trade deadline,

(07:07):
which was an interesting move. They traded for ou Levy
and but and then then they gave up the first
round pick for Ben Sharatt and then traded Owen Tippett
and a first round pick for Claude Jeru and a
bunch of extra pieces. They're They're not resting on their laurels.

(07:28):
They are making moves that constantly adjust their rostri And
I think there's there's two things that the Devils can
learn here. One. So the problem with where Thom Fitzgerald
is right now is the Panthers fan base and the
Devil's fan base is very different. I think the Devil's
fan base are clutchers. We clutch under our players, unless

(07:52):
it's like somebody we just despise, like David Severson. We
weren't clutching to him, But a lot of people will
clutch to a lot of the players on this team.
I think if you really look at what the Panthers
did that season in twenty twenty two, it's set the
foundation for what they are now. And we talked a
little bit about this last week, but I really want
to look at how the Devils can emulate that. And

(08:15):
I'm gonna look at this. I'm gonna look at some
of the players that the Devils could target. There's some
of the obvious ones, like like JJ Peterka would be
one that I think is a guy who's like on
the verge and you're paying what looks like a premium
today but is a penance in three years if he
hits what you think he's gonna do, or like you know,

(08:38):
Marco Rossi is another guy. I don't love getting smaller, right,
but I know he plays big. I don't love getting smaller,
but he's a guy that you look at you're like, oh,
you know, he's there's for some reason, he's like on
the verge, right, and he's about to explode. It looks
like and you can get him at for a mid

(08:59):
to late rown first round pick or or equal value.
So what does that look like for the Devil's doing
a first round pick? Is that both of their second
round picks? And maybe a prospect? Is that a top prospect?
You know, you're not trying You're not training Nemetz for them,
because that's kind of caterintuitive to the point you're trying
to do. But you know, are you looking at maybe

(09:19):
you trade Mercer and and other pieces are part of
that deal to to even it out, And then there's
a there's other guys out there. I really want to
look and to see if there's some guy, you know,
because like Ryan Hart was in the conversation, but I
don't think Bennett was as much. And and you know,
Bennet's probably gonna win the consmife, and you really want

(09:42):
to see, like now that you have your foundation, and
the Panthers have that foundation, that x Blad, they have Barkov,
There's a couple of other guys that have been there
for a while, but like to really solidify that foundation,
Barkov's the superstar player. You know, the x Blad is
the number one overall picked on the They had these
guys and they just needed the smart moves around them.

(10:10):
And I think that the Devils were on the right
track in twenty twenty three. I just think they they
they made they I'm trying to I feel like they
they they didn't do enough in twenty twenty four. This

(10:32):
is the thing is that like we go into the
season being like this is kind of a glaring hole.
Every year, there's one. Last year it was the fifth
and sixth player on the top six, Like we're missing
kind of like two forwards here, and we're hoping that
Dawson Mercer fills that role and We're hoping like that

(10:53):
that Tomas Ta Tar can fill that role. If Ta
Tarka and fill that role, then we're hoping we get
a bounce back from Mandre Pillot. If we don't get
the bounce tech Fromogrey pull Out, we're hoping rik Halla
can do it. We don't get it from aerk Halla.
We're hoping that Paul Cotter plays above it's had uck
he did at times in Vegas. If we don't get that,
we're hoping that Stephan Nason just becomes grade A five
on like it's you're you're piecing it together, and then

(11:16):
the year before is obvious it's your goalie. You still
went in with v Tech Vanchick, it's your starter when
you didn't get Hellibuck, and I get it, the goalie
market was psychotic.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
I do.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
I'm curious of what the actual price of Hellabuck would
have been. And maybe you don't want Hellibuck now because
of his playoff potential, but I think with this defense
in front of Hellibuck, you'd be in great shape. And
then the year you know, then you go three years
ago it was goalie again, right, And honestly, like if

(11:53):
Joe kind of got lucky because goalie was the issue,
and he fixed it with ve Tech Vancheck and he
just went on a one year, really good run. But
I didn't love that going to twenty three twenty four,
did you No? I was worried about that, you know, so,

(12:16):
and I forget like Blackwood was on that team or sorry,
twenty two twenty three and Blackwood was on that team.
So you're still like kind of like he's holding onto
these players too long, and but like there's the other
side of it, like I'm on side, don't trade Dawston Mercer.

(12:36):
But I've also learned by lesson with Alexander Holtz, because
I hated the Holtz trade at first, and now I
think it's a clear slam dunk. If anything, Schmid is
the one. The Schmid is the one that you're worried
about breaking in and doing playing well because he had
he had some good stretches for Vegas this year and
for Henderson. But Paul Cotter is very clearly a much

(12:57):
better player for this Devil's team. I look at the
Panthers and the the the lesson is not more grit,
It is get guys who could play. And that's the
other lesson. You got Ryan Hart and Bennett, who are
top ten picks, who are malleable. You could bring them

(13:21):
in and mold them into your system. Right, They're not
just one trick ponies. And I think that you look
at like the situation that you're in, and if I'm
the Devil's like, i gotta make some bald moves, Like
I'm calling Seattle and saying, what does it take to
get Shane? Right? What does it take? Like can you

(13:43):
give me some like like the whole Like if Gwyn
Gretzky got traded, what does it take to get this guy?
And if they tell me it's I don't know, Like
if you're telling me it's it's Mercer Casey in a
first round pick, I'd really consider that. You know, if
you're in I'd go to I mean, obviously you're going

(14:05):
to buff Buffalo and saying what the p Turka Cause
obviously you're gonna talk to Ryan harten free agency and
see what he costs. I think he's gonna be way
too expensive. But I'm I'm do you know what I'm
writing about today? Sam?

Speaker 2 (14:19):
What's that?

Speaker 3 (14:20):
It's delicious, It's delicious, It's gone. We're ready tonight. It's
gonna come out tonight. I think the Devil should send
an offer.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Sheet hmm.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
To the Rangers.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
That's that's like saying something is delicious at wah wah.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
There's plenty of things that are dishes. But anyway, no,
we're we're we're putting them in a bad spot. I
want them to offer sheet. Will Cooley, this kid, Wow,
looks like he's on the verge. He looks like he
might be really good. He put together a pretty good

(15:10):
season this year. I see a lot of people be like, well,
he only has I think he only had like forty
or fifty points that he looked really good. Uh, there's that.
That Rangers team was a mess, a hot mess express
and he was one small shining moment on that team.
I think he would be worth what you should pay

(15:31):
for him in the in the offersheet compensation. I think
you could sign him to like a five like you'd want.
You'd have to send him to a five year deal
just because of offer sheet roles, but I think it'd
be well worth it. You can even sign to a
one year deal and then sign him to an extension,
to a seven year extension. I think that that's a

(15:52):
player that if you're gonna be Tom Fitzgerald and you're
gonna be grow, you know, go into the with the
biggest set of brass cojones that you're gonna have, you
gotta make. You gotta look at Bill Zito. And that's
the difference between Fitzgerald and I think Fitzgerald and Dido
have the same hockey intelligence level. I think Zeno has

(16:17):
brass balls. Excuse me, am, I allowed to say that.
I'm sorry if I'm not. But look, he's got hasticular fortitude. Yeah,
I think he's He just has guts. I need Michael
Maley to start calling Florida Panthers games because that dude
has guts. And I think that you have to have

(16:39):
a certain level of guts to be a good GM.
Now there's the other side of that, where you're Peter Grelly,
where you're just making the craziest of me is that
don't make any sense. The must be logic in your
in your guts. But the best teams don't have first
front picks. They they make it work elsewhere. And I

(17:03):
think that the Devil should start using their assets. They
have all these they also have a lot of prospects, Like,
the volume of prospects that they have is unsustainable, especially
on defense. They have too many defensemen. They need to
offload some of these for for help in the NHL.
And I'm not talking about Nemets or even Casey, but
like you know, v n could be an NHL player,

(17:25):
Let him play somewhere else. You know, I thought they
wasted Hataka and now he's overseas that that was blown
talent blown and I get the injuries, but they did.
They kind of blew it there. But there's a couple
other defensemen, you know, Charlie Letti, I have no idea
like what he's up to, but he's an interest gud.

(17:46):
There's a Karpovich in Russia. I think I think he's
the defenseman now second guessing myself, but there's there's just
a large there's a long list of like defensemen who
could be decent and could play NHL games, and they
did it. Last to a Ball, right Ball is a
guy who's a fourth or fifth defenseman on on most teams,
but he's not that in New Jersey, so you you know,

(18:08):
you use him as an asset. I think the Devils
have enough defense where they can do that. They have
these guys signed to long term contracts in the NHL.
They got lucky with Covia Savic, who turned out to
be a really good player. He just that's how the
Devils could play Panthers hockey is instead of emulating it

(18:29):
by signing Sam Bennett or excuse me, or or even
worse like trying to bring back Boquist and career. You
go after like those other guys at the top to
push the other guys down, Like if you had Paul
Cotter and Stephan Nason and even Eric Halla is a
fourth line that's a really good fourth line, and then

(18:52):
you can have you know, Brian Allen in as a
fill in. You know that you're you're looking like you're
really good shape. I think that they're gonna find a
way to get get off Paula. But you know, and
if you can push everyone down, like let's say they
get Patarka, I just did just for argument's sake. So
your top line is Patarika, Hughes and Bratt, and then

(19:16):
your second line is Meyer Hesher and I think you
in a perfect world you want somebody else and that
would push your third line to be mercer. How am
I missing.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
On the third line.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
In my world, Pilotte's been traded to no Plot Glass,
so your third one would be Glass Mercer. There's one
guy I'm missing less Mercer. The silence, I know, I'm

(20:13):
like looking through the whole roster right now.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
I'm just a you're talking about somebody current or are
you talking about you know somebody's on the team right now?

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Okay, so maybe you know a rookie out there.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
Oh, grit Sick. Yeah, no, it's that's that's to him.
They it's probably grit Sick would be the guy. He's
high on this guy? Are you sure?

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Are people sure about this guy?

Speaker 3 (20:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (20:41):
I talked to a scout and he was not high
on him at all.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
It's fine. Skating is great, and that's going to translate
to the NHL. Okay, I and again, like you, I think.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
That there's a sure thing. I mean the Cake Shill
is different.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
You know, I think he's a short thing. As an
NHL player, I don't think he's gonna score twenty goals
this year, But as a third liner, if you get
twelve to fifteen, I'm happy. And then and then it's
almost better because then he's gonna sign his next contract,
and you're not gonna have to pay him eight million
a year, you know what I mean. So but again,

(21:22):
I'm I'm asking for third line production from him and
a Mercer Glass Ritzik line. I think it's really good.
And I think that's like a really good four lines
where you are never taking your foot off the gas,
which is what the Devils want. Yeah, they wanted. They

(21:44):
had that in twenty two, twenty three. They lost it
because their fourth line center got arrested and their third
line center got hurt. And they've been chasing it ever since,
and they you know, they they Fitzgerald went all in
on Goalian defense last off season. He's he's gotta stop

(22:06):
doing that. He's gotta stop going all in on one position.
And I think he I don't think he's a choice
this year. I think he has to be smart with
his who he adds because free agency is kind of
bad and people are gonna get overpaid. The Devils don't
have the money to overpay, even if they trade a lot.
They don't have the money to overpay someone. They don't

(22:27):
have the money to to overpay even a Bennett. But
I I I think he has to be smart. I
think I think he's gonna go the trade route. I
think that he'll test free agency. But I think, like
you know, I think, what's here's what's Here's what I

(22:47):
think is gonna happen, Just like when the Devils overspent
on p a lot because they lost Goodreau. I think
teams like Vegas, seems like Seattle, seems like Utah, seems
like Carolina. Are you gonna go hard after Marner? I

(23:10):
think Manor Marner might sign in Florida, like honestly, and
then I think Carolina is gonna Here's what Here's what
I think happened. If I had to predict today, I
say Marner goes to Florida, Bennett goes to Carolina, and
then Anaheim goes on a spending spree because they lost

(23:32):
everybody and it drives the price for everybody up. I
think the Devil's sit there and kind of I have
to hope, Like, then you're stuck with either paying for marshand,
which I don't think is a bad thing, but it's
thirty ways. You're thirty seven still effective, I understand, But

(23:54):
he wants to get paid till he's forty, and that's
that's asking a lot. He might be a guy who's
a effective until he's forty, but it's a risk. You're
looking at Marshan, you're looking at like Granland, who I
don't want, like I think he's a poison pill. You're
looking at you know, I'm taking Tavarus off the table.

(24:19):
I would love Tavaris, but I don't think it goes
like I think. I think Claude Dreux is gonna get overpaid.
I would love claud Drew. I think you'd fit here
really nicely. But I think he's gonna get overpaid. I
think he's gonna get like five to six million dollars
a year just based on name value alone. I think
Tavares is gonna get six to seven. It's because if
the least aren't paying Marner like they have money to spend.

(24:44):
But I think you look around. I think you try
to find value. That's what the best teams do. It's
what teams have done to the Devils. That's what the
Boston Bruins do with Pavlosaka, It's what the Vegas Golden
Knights did with auxander Holtz. Those are very different results,
very varied results, but there are options that the Devils

(25:10):
have that they can follow the lead of other great teams,
and Florida is one of them, but you have to
follow it in a way that is intelligent. Look at
the moves they made that made the most sense, and
it's Bennett, it's Ryan Hart, and it's Ko Chuck and
they did that to build around Barkhov. Let's say you

(25:34):
don't need to do one of those moves because you
have two centers instead of just the one in Barkov.
But excuse me, I think you need to make I
think you need to have a twenty twenty two offseason
where you make to franchise changing trades that don't look
like it on the surface. But I think Paterka would

(25:55):
be like that. I think Rossi could be like that.
I'm going to really dive into some of the guys
who haven't hit their ceiling. But I think there's some
players out there that the Devils could really utilize it.
And on top of that, you could sign them to
really reasonable deals right now because they haven't hit their ceiling. Cooley.

(26:18):
Cooley would be a great one. Put the Rangers in
a bind, offer him six million dollars a year.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Could you imagine if you started an offer sheet war
with the Rangers, and it was it the yearly thing.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
I mean, who's coming up that the Devils would be
really upset about. I guess Nemets.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Well eventually Luke Hughes. But the Devils have to lock
them up now.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
I mean if they signed up for eight years or
seven years this year then doesn't matter. Yeah, I mean
the funny thing like in the funniest world, it wouldn't
be funny the Devil's fans, but in the funniest world,
the Devil's offer sheet coolly. They let him come here
and they use that extra money to go get Quinn Hughes.

(27:17):
From an NHL standpoint, it's great content or sorry, it's
great storylines, but you know, terrible for the Devils. But
you know it's that would be the funniest thing.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
Hm hmm. I'm still thinking about about your ideas.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
I like I said, I told you I was coming
in bold like I came in hot tonight.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
I I.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
It was funny.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
I was.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
I was kind of re evaluating my just my list
of articles that I have to right, I kind of
hit a lot of the ones that I really wanted
to hit. But then I just really sat down in
the lab and came up with the articles I want
to write over the next month, and I was like, Oh,

(28:15):
this would be a cool idea. Oh this would be
a great idea. Oh this is something nobody's talking about.
So I've come in here with some things locked and loaded.
The COOLi thing. I was like, I got to write
that tonight. I wrote last night that I think the
Devils should I think James Hagans is going to fall.
Everybody tells me I'm crazy, but nobody thought cold Calfield

(28:36):
was going to fall. He fell at fifteen. Nobody thought
he was going past seven. I think that James Hagan's
is going to fall in this draft, and I think
the Devils should call Columbus and say what would it
take to get fourteen? And they'd tell you the number
and be like, Okay, if a certain scenario happens, we'll

(28:57):
make the trade and you go again. You gotta be bold,
be bold, make the bold move. And James Hagens is
a bold move. James, I think could be in the
NHL next year. And if people overthink this and let
them fall the ten to fourteen overall, I think that
Devil should least they ask, but do you got to lose,

(29:21):
and then on top of it, I wrote about the
Crier trade. Chris Crider is or the trade rumor I
guess it is right now. Yeah, I don't think it's
official yet, but that trade, I think it's bad news
for the Devils because they think that takes the Ducks

(29:42):
out of the Andre Palotte sweepstakes. They still have plenty
of cap space to a four pilot, But I think
Crider and Plot give you the same value. They do
the same thing, right. It's the veteran who you expect
to be clutching the playoffs, who's overpaid right now. But

(30:03):
you're okay with that because you're a young team. I
don't think they need two of those. They already get
Klorn too. I just think it's too much repeated what
they already have on the roster and it doesn't really
help them. So if the Crowder trade goes through, that
takes probably the second biggest stootor for Palot. I still
tink Detroit it's the most logical destination. A lot of

(30:27):
people say, go back to Tampa. I don't think it's
a terrible idea. They've done this before. They did this
with who's the defenseman they have on a team right now,
the former ranger Callahan. No, why uh who's the former ranger.
I think he was a captain in New York. He's
a defenceman. He's on the Lightning. Now he went to Nashville.

(30:48):
Now he's back to the Lightning. It's not ringing a bell.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
It's not Callahan.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
No.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Anyway, people know what I'm talking about. The Lightning have
have reunited with players when it makes sense, and they
put a lot makes sense. But anyway, so I wrote that,
I wrote about that last night. That's up and bus
dot com McDonough McDonough, thank you, thank you, Robert. I

(31:23):
knew it was a Ryant. I couldn't remember his last name.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
I always get those two mixed up. I knew Callahan's
not not playing anymore.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
So yeah, he retired. I have a question for you
before we go, because I was gonna write about this,
but I don't know if there's any point to it.
Do you think it's weird that Praezy never retired, like officially.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
He's holding out for one last dream.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
It was just it was bizarre. I was like, why
didn't he retire? You know? And maybe it's because like.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Still playing.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Where would he sign a one day contract. Wouldn't be
in New Jersey. They don't like him here. It wouldn't
be Minnesota. They kicked him out. He went to Colorado
for one year. So I guess maybe it's just the
fact that he just doesn't have a home that he
doesn't need to announce. You know, there's no point, there's
no like, you know, point to do the press conference

(32:21):
because none of these teams are He didn't win a
cup coat. He came with the Devils and he immediately
spurned them. So I thought it was interesting. I usually
feel like people announced their retirement right.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Well, I'll tell you when he spread the Devils, that
whole regime no longer exists. So you know, the Devils
could do a marketing ploy. You know, it's it's it's
uh an easy gimmick attention on the team. But it

(33:02):
would be nice to see maybe one more year he
actually does come back, one more year with the Devils.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
And I'm not a fan of second tour of duty,
but it would make things right.

Speaker 3 (33:21):
One more thing I'm gonna write about tonight, Sam, and
I want your take on us. Do you see Jack
Hughes is back on the ice. Is he I don't know,
so you haven't seen it. Do you know why he's
back on the ice? Why to film an advertisement for
Bauer Hockey. Oh? Very nice, but he's doing drills. But

(33:44):
how do you how do you feel about that the
first time we see him on the ice he's doing
a commercial.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Oh I saw a picture I think it was from
the Devil's a social media account of him and Luke
and seeing Luke in that slink.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Was a little disheartened. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's the one.
But what was your question again?

Speaker 3 (34:10):
How do you feel that that the first time we
see back on the is it's for a commercial?

Speaker 2 (34:16):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Okay, if if Jackie Boy, if Jackie Boy can make
some money, it's the off season.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
It's the off season. You can do that stuff in
the off season. Well.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
I don't like is when the Devils, you know, take
these players and yeah they should be marking them, but
they distract them, especially with their charity event. Every year,
the next game they get crushed, you know, the the
deck Gala or whatever it's called.

Speaker 3 (34:52):
Oh yeah, yeah, there's usually a game, right, Yeah, they
usually get crushed.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
There was one year they got crushed in more in
place than one after one of those events, but we
won't talk about that.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
No, no, yeah, that was a bad night.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah yeah, real bad.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
Let's just let's just call it a day. Yeah, we'll
call those my plugs, pucks and pitchworks dot Com. It's
gonna I'm gonna have so oh, there's gonna be more
draft articles coming up over the next week. Excuse me,
there's gonna be I don't even know, like the free agency.
There's gonna be reactions to the Stanley Cup final so

(35:36):
much I can't even like tell you how much is
coming up. We've we've actually reconfigured some of the roles
and there's more articles that are gonna come your way
because of it. So there's just go to buckspict Tricks
dot com every day. There's new articles every day. It's
articles you don't see anywhere else. You know, there's so
much noise in the New Jersey Devil beat, and I

(36:00):
try to do something different. I don't want to just
write what everybody else is writing. So you're gonna get
something different at pookspitchworks dot com. So keep going there.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to the Birth of Nations
week which is July first and July fourth, because that's
usually a great time for free agency hockey.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Yeah, and also the draft beforehand where you see the future.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
All that. I'm really looking forward to after the Stanley
Cup Finals, getting back in the swing of things as
a new Jersey Devils fan. But this is one thing
I love about the Stanley Cup Finals. And I didn't
think I, you know, because you know, I'm sort of
on a boycott of it because the same teams as

(36:56):
last last season.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
But there's some true animosity right there. There is.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
It's vicious, and I'm glad that the emotion is not
taken out of the game. I'm glad to see competition
at the highest level. I'm glad to see teams doing

(37:25):
whatever it takes to get that edge and win and
not giving up. And the Edmonton Oilers, even though they
were getting blown out, at least trying to be aggressive
and playing the Florida Panthers game instead.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Of being passive. H I love that stuff.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
I remember years ago when La Cavier and again, we're
trying to gain every inch and that that fight that
they had.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
That's what.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Stanley Cup hockey is all about. And it's just you know,
it doesn't matter what team's in it. It's a real
pleasure to watch and the fans enjoying it as well.
So yeah, yeah, and I hope the Devils get there.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
I think that I think they were making the right moves.
I think that Timo Meyer move is kind of people
don't believe it, but like, he really does play that style.
It's just he's been inconsistent with this production. But he's
He's if the Devil's get under your skin, it's because

(38:49):
of Meyer. Meyer's the guy that's Mandola.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
Even the guys who were hitting like Cotter and Nason
and fashion but not getting under their skins, hitting like
and good thing. Hits love it. But Myern's the instigator
that's gonna get them to play like this. And you know,
I think Nico is a little bit more on board.
I think Jacket is gonna love it, and he's gonna

(39:15):
love that style. He's just he's not gonna get into
the fights, but he's he's going to be a guy
who just frustrates you because he's gonna embarrass you on
the ice, right, and it's gonna really make you mad.
It's gonna make you go off your game.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
So that's it.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
I think the Devils are in our I think the
Devils could have a transpositional off season. I just don't
know which way it's gonna go.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Well, I want to thank all those tuning in. Dropping
the podcast tomorrow all right at midnight. Until next time,
go to pucksupitchforce dot com. Let's go Devils.